Shelving support

ABSTRACT

A shelving support is pivotally connected to a bracket carrying a pressure-sensitive tape for attachment thereof to a wall. The bracket is so constructed that upon loading of the shelving support a force moment is developed, which moment is proportional to the load and is applied to the bracket in a direction to oppose the force normally tending to pull the bracket away from the wall.

O United States Patent 11 1 1111 43,776,497

Mwanyoha 1 Dec. 4, 1973 SHELVING SUPPORT 3,612,458 10/1971 Mwanyoha 248/205 A [76] Inventor: Bakm Mwanyoha 51 Belmont CL, 3,690,611 9 1972 Mwanyoha 248/205 A 4 Brockton Mass 02 Primary Examiner.l. Franklin Foss [22] Filed: May 31, 1972 Att0rneyRudolph J. Jurick [21] App]. N0.: 258,245

[57] ABSTRACT 52 us. (:1 248/205 A A Shelving Support is Pivotally connected to a bracket 51 1m.c1. A47f 7 14 carrying a Pressure-Sensitive p for attachment 5 Field of Search 248/205 A, 235, thereof to a wall. The bracket is so constructed that 211/90 upon loading of the shelving support a force moment is developed, which moment is proportional to the [56] References Cited load and is applied to the bracket in a direction to op- UNITED STATES PATENTS pose the force normally tending to pull the bracket away from the wall. 2,557,434 6/ I951 Hoverder 248/205 A UX 2,862,626 12/1958 Clare 248/205 A UX 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SHELVING SUPPORT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Shelving supports which are secured to a wall by means of screws, nails, etc., suffer from numerous shortcomings apart from the fact that a tool is required for the installation and removal thereof. When such supports are removed, there remain unsightly holes in the wall. Also, the supports are not conveniently attachable to a tile surface or the like. These particular shortcomings are overcome by supports which are attachable to a wall by means of a pressure-sensitive tape, but these supports have heretofore been suitable only for supporting relatively light loads. Also, polesupported shelving arrangements are popular, the poles being clampingly secured in place by spring means exerting pressure between the floor and the ceiling. These arrangements, however, occupy valuable space, they are somewhat difficult to install properly, and they cannot be used under certain conditions as, for example, when the ceiling is structurally weak or the ceiling is higher than the maximum pole length.

A shelving support made in accordance with this invention is attachable to a wall by means of a pressuresensitive tape. It is simple to install, does not damage the wall surface and is particularly adapted for supporting relatively heavy loads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A bracket comprises an arcuate member removably attached to a mounting plate carrying a double-coated, pressure-sensitive tape. The bracket is enclosed within a shelving support, which support is pivotally connected to a spring-biased arm passing through a slotted opening formed in the arcuate member. ,Upon loading of the shelving support, the spring-biased arm applies a pressure to the arcuate member, whereby the end portions of the arcuate member apply a pressure to the mounting plate, the latter pressure being in a direction to oppose the force moment normally tending to pull the tape away from the surface to which it is affixed.

' An object of this invention is the provision of an improved shelving support of the type which is affixed to a wall by means of a pressure-sensitive tape.

An object of this invention is the provision of a wallmountable shelving support assembly constructed and arranged so that load supported by the assembly develops pressure components in a direction to oppose the force which normally tends to pull the assembly away from the wall.

An object of this invention is the provision of an improved shelving support assembly attachable to a wall by means of a pressure-sensitive tape, which assembly is capable of carrying relatively heavy loads.

The above-stated and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description when taken with the accompanying drawings. It will be understood, however, that the drawings are for purposes of illustration and are not to be construed as defining the scope or limits of the invention, reference being had for the latter purpose to the claims appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote like parts in the several views:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view showing a pair of shelving supports made in accordance with this invention and supporting a bookshelving, a portion of one support being broken away;

FIG. 2 is a left end elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1 and drawn to an enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the energy absorbing spring carried by the bracket; and

FIG. 5 is a similar to FIG. 3 but showing another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 3, a bookshelve 10 carrying books 11 is supported by a pair of similar shelving supports 12 and 12' made in accordance with this invention. Each support comprises a pair of matching side panels, the side panel 13 of the support 12 being visible in FIG. 2, the side panel 14 of the support 12 being visible in FIG. 3, and portions of the side panels 13 and 14 of the support 12 being visible in the broken-away portion of FIG. 1. Referring specifically to the support 12, front panels 15 and 16 are secured to the forward edges of the side panels 13 and 14, as by means of screws.

The lower front panel 16 is recessed with respect to the upper front panel 15, as shown in FIG. 3, for purposes tobe described below. Thus, the supports 12, 12 are three-sided housings having open backs presented to the wall 17 and preferably open tops closed by the shelf 10. A cross piece 18 is secured to the rear edges of the side panels 13 and 14, FIG. 1, said cross piece being spaced somewhat below the level of the shelf. The support 12 also has a similar cross piece. Preferably, the shelving supports 12, 12 are made of wood, but it will be apparent they may be made of a suitable plastic or metal.

Each of shelving supports 12, 12' substantially encloses a bracket which is affixed to the wall by means of a pressure-sensitive tape. Referring to FIG. 3, the bracket comprises a mounting plate 20, preferably made of aluminum and having a thickness of the order of one thirty-second inch. This mounting plate is preformed to provide an upper channel-like portion 21 and a lower channel-like portion 22. A double-coated, pressure-sensitive tape 19 is attached to the flat surface portions of the mounting plate. A metal, arcuate plate 23 has an upper offset and reversely-bent portion 24 slidably received in the upper channel-like portion 21. The lower end portion 25 of the arcuate plate also is offset and reversely-bent and slidably received in the channel-like portion 22 of the mounting plate. Positioned within the arcuate plate is an energy-absorbing spring 26, which has the configuration shown in FIG. 4. The end legs 27, of the spring press against the inner surface of the arcuate plate 23. A flat, rigid metal arm 28, having a thickness and width of the order of oneeighth inch and three-eighths inch, respectively, passes through a slotted opening 30 formed in the arcuate plate 23 and the inner end of this arm is curled about the central portion 29 of the spring 26. A button-like member 31 has a threaded shank passing through a threaded hole formed in the arm 28 for the purpose of pre-loading the arcuate plate 23. The head of this bolt has a diameter exceeding that of the slot formed in the arcuate plate 23. The spring 26 maintains the button in sliding contact with the outer surface of the arcuate plate at all times. An intermediate portion of the arm 28 is formed into a circular ring 32 and the flat, free end 33 of the arm projects downwardly and externally of the lower front panel 16.

The bracket is first attached to the wall by means of the adhesive tape 19, FIG. 3, after which the support 12 is positioned over the bracket and pivotally coupled to the arm 28 by passing a pin 35 through sleeve portion 32. Such sleeve portion may be formed integrally with the arm 28, or it may comprise a separate tube welded to the arm. The pin 35 serves as a bearing and may have threaded ends onto which enlarged diameter end caps are threaded, thereby to retain the pin in place. When the bracket and the support 12 are so assembled, the cross-piece 18 is in contact with the offset arm 24 of the arcuate plate and the end 33 of the arm 28 is in flush contact with the front panel 16.

Placing a load on the shelving support 12, FIG. 3, causes the support to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction about the hinge connection formed by the pin 35 and the sleeve 32. In so doing, the cross-piece 18 presses against the offset arm 24 which, in turn, presses the adhesive tape 19 against the wall, thus opposing the force which would otherwise pull the tape away from the wall. Also, a portion of the applied load presses vertically downward on the hinge connection, thereby causing a clockwise rotation of the rigid arm 28 about the axis formed by the coupling between the inner end of this arm and the central portion 29 of the spring 26. Thus, the button 31, which is in sliding contact with the arcuate plate 23, exerts a substantially horizontal pressure component against the arcuate plate. It is here pointed out that the slot 30 and the pivotal connection between the arm 28 and the spring 26 both lie above the horizontal median plane of the arcuate plate 23. Thus, the greater the supported load, the greater will be the clockwise rotation of the arm 28 and the greater will be the pressure applied to the arcuate member by the button 31. The arcuate plate obeys the static and dynamic laws of arches and transmits substantially horizontal pressure components to its offset upper and lower portions 21 and 25 respectively. These pressure components, which are applied to the adhesive tape through the flat portions of the mounting plate 20, vary directly with the load and are opposed to the forcemoment which normally tends to pull the assembly away from the wall. Consequently, a pair of shelving supports spaced along a wall and pivotally coupled to brackets which are applied to the wall by means of pressure-sensitive tape are capable of carrying loads considerably heavier than those which can safely be carried by conventional hangers of the self-adhesive type.

A modification of the shelving support is shown in FIG. which is a cross-sectional view generally similar to FIG. 3. The bracket, here shown only diagrammatically and identified by the numeral 36, is the same as that shown in FIG. 3 except for the external end 33' of the rigid arm 38. The end 33 is offset and in contact with the lower front panel 37 secured to spaced side panels, only one side panel 38 being visible in this view. The upper ends of the side panels may be monoplanar for the support ofa book shelf. Alternatively, the upper ends of the side panels may have aligned, semi-circular recesses formed therein, as shown in FIG. 5, whereby a spaced pair of shelving supports may be used to support a drapery rod 39.

Having now described the invention what I desire to protect by Letters Patent is set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A shelving support comprising,

a. a mounting plate carrying a pressure-sensitive tape for affixing the mounting plate to a wall, said mounting plate being preformed to provide a pair of vertically-spaced channel portions,

b. an arcuate plate having upper and lower offset end portions slidable in said channel portions,

c. an elongated slot formed in said arcuate plate,

d. a spring member disposed between the said mounting plate and arcuate plate,

e. a rigid arm extending through said slot and having an end pivotally connected to said spring member;

f. a button-like member carried by the said rigid arm and positioned for sliding contact with the external surface of said mounting plate in the region of the said elongated slot;

g. means for adjusting said button-like member relative to said rigid member to pre-load said arcuate plate;

h. a housing substantially enclosing said arcuate plate and mounting plate, and

i. hinge means pivotally connecting the said housing to the said rigid arm.

2. The invention as recited in claim 1, wherein the said housing carries a cross piece which engages the upper offset end portion of the arcuate plate.

3. The invention as recited in claim 2, wherein the said housing comprises upper and lower front panels secured to a pair of spaced side panels, and wherein the said hinge means comprises a circular sleeve on the said rigid arm and a pin passing through said sleeve and aligned holes formed in the said side panels.

4. The invention as recited in claim 3, wherein the said lower front panel is recessed with respect to the upper front panel, and wherein the said rigid arm terminates in an end portion which engages the front surface of the said lower front panel.

5. The inventionas recited in claim 4, wherein the said elongated slot and the pivotal connection between the end of the rigid arm and the spring member both lie above the horizontal median plane of the arcuate plate. 

1. A shelving support comprising, a. a mounting plate carrying a pressure-sensitive tape for affixing the mounting plate to a wall, said mounting plate being preformed to provide a pair of vertically-spaced channel portions, b. an arcuate plate having upper and lower offset end portions slidable in said channel portions, c. an elongated slot formed in said arcuate plate, d. a spring member disposed between the said mounting plate and arcuate plate, e. a rigid arm extending through said slot and having an end pivotally connected to said spring member; f. a button-like member carried by the said rigid arm and positioned for sliding contact with the external surface of said mounting plate in the region of the said elongated slot; g. means for adjusting said button-like member relative to said rigid member to prE-load said arcuate plate; h. a housing substantially enclosing said arcuate plate and mounting plate, and i. hinge means pivotally connecting the said housing to the said rigid arm.
 2. The invention as recited in claim 1, wherein the said housing carries a cross piece which engages the upper offset end portion of the arcuate plate.
 3. The invention as recited in claim 2, wherein the said housing comprises upper and lower front panels secured to a pair of spaced side panels, and wherein the said hinge means comprises a circular sleeve on the said rigid arm and a pin passing through said sleeve and aligned holes formed in the said side panels.
 4. The invention as recited in claim 3, wherein the said lower front panel is recessed with respect to the upper front panel, and wherein the said rigid arm terminates in an end portion which engages the front surface of the said lower front panel.
 5. The invention as recited in claim 4, wherein the said elongated slot and the pivotal connection between the end of the rigid arm and the spring member both lie above the horizontal median plane of the arcuate plate. 